Learning to Improve Improved Learning

Publication

Publication

Leren verbeteren, verbeterd leren

This thesis focuses on the connection between learning and quality improvement
in health care. I explored this from the macro, meso and micro level perspectives.
The central research question of this thesis is:

Which issues support and hinder the development of healthcare
professionals working in hospitals in their quality improvement
work?

To investigate how healthcare professionals can be supported in their quality improvement
work, I employed a case study methodology. I studied three different
cases over the course of five years. The first case was the national Dutch Faster
Better programme. The second case was a number of different improvement
projects in an academic hospital. For the third case I was intensively involved
for a period of 18 months in a Dutch teaching hospital. In all three cases I used
different methods for data collection and data analysis, varying from quantitative
analyses of questionnaires to action research. By combining different research
methods I gained more insight into the complexity associated with healthcare
professionals’ learning to conduct improvement work.